Customer service? Does it even exist?!

One topic that is guaranteed to get a reaction from most people in the UAE, is customer service - or lack there of! There really is only one word to describe it and that's 'appalling'.

So many times I've called a company and been greeted with a simple 'Hello!', so you end up asking if you've actually called a company or an individual. Why can't people answer with 'Hello, (company name) how can I help you?' is it really that hard? Or you can't actually get through to anyone on the phone and end up communicating via email forms, which can very easily be ignored or people take literally weeks to answer a simple query.

Either that or you get transferred around five or so different people, none of whom can assist you, so you give up in the end. When you're finally forced to head over to the office or so-called Customer Service Centre, you take your number, wait patiently to be called and then the person at the counter is either too busy yapping away on their mobile or to another person and reacts to you like you're a big waste of their time and interrupting something that they'd rather be doing! Anything but work!

Going shopping can be a miserable experience, the service staff either just don't care or follow you around like your own personal shadow. If there's something that's guaranteed to make me walk straight out of a store it's having someone follow me around like they expect me to steal something - if I want help, I'll ask for it. Then of course you go up to pay for your selected item and the cashier isn't interested in you at all. Very often I've found them chatting to other staff, refusing to look at their customers, slapping change on the counter - put it in my hand please, give me a smile and wish me a nice day!

So many times you can go into a shop and there are numerous staff just milling about doing nothing. You can't win!

As someone who has worked in many customer service sectors, yup I've worked as a receptionist, secretary, cashier, waitress, bar staff, it was always in my interest to help people and be happy as I go about it. So it leaves me cold that companies here just don't seem to care and they seriously need to invest in training their staff.

Simple things like a smile, making eye contact, a cheery disposition make all the difference and a pleasant experience for a customer and encourages them to come back.

Safety first! - Children in cars.

This weekend I thought it would be nice to take a little road trip over to the eastern coast of the UAE. It was a wonderful day out, the wondrous weather descended into an amazing thunder and lightning storm with some quite heavy rain. As good as the day was, my enjoyment was reduced by the sad sight of parents being reckless with children in their cars.

It's not an usual sight to see unrestrained children in cars driving around the UAE, bouncing up and down on the back seat, or youngsters on the laps of the person in the front passenger seat or even sitting on the lap of the driver - all of course being extremely stupid and dangerous things to do. No, the thing that shocked me as I drove down the corniche in Fujairah, was the sight of three little girls with their heads sticking out the sunroof of their mothers car. She's smiling away, as her little precious ones are laughing and waving at other drivers. But, I wonder if it had crossed the mothers mind what would happen if she had to stop suddenly? Three little girls garroted by the sunroof, or they might have slipped off the seat they were standing on and smashed their heads  - the injuries they could have sustained would have been pretty awful.

Sadly, this wasn't the only incidence, I must have seen dozens of cars with children hanging out sunroofs or windows, their parents oblivious to the potential dangers, or is it a sad fact that the parents just don't seem to care? Especially when you see the majority of them actually wearing their seat belts!

I stopped at a nice little Lebanese eatery for some lunch and sure enough the obligatory big blacked out 4x4 pulls up, honking for staff to come out for service. The mother is sitting in the front passenger seat, with a child of no more than three years old perched in her lap, both are unrestrained. Would it ever cross this woman's mind that should her husband, who was driving the car, ever have to make a sudden stop that both she and her child would be thrown forward? She'd probably say 'I can hold onto my child, it's ok!' The reality however would be quite different, as she'd be thrown forward with her body weight crushing the child against the dashboard, even worse the airbag could deploy and also crush the child. You're looking at major head injuries, maybe a broken neck, probable death for the child.

I cannot understand why some parents seem to have such little regard for the most precious things in their lives - their children. If you say anything you get told to 'Mind your own business!'. Sorry but any adult, especially one who wears a seat belt themselves and then doesn't restrain their children in a vehicle is committing willful endangerment and child abuse.

The parents who allow their children to jump around in the back of a car, should take a water melon up to the first floor balcony of an apartment block and drop it onto the concrete below - the result is pretty much what happens to a child's head when they hit the windscreen!

The sad thing is, in the result of an accident, these careless parents would be crying and blaming everyone else except themselves for the injuries or even death of their little one. Children rely on adults to keep them safe. My three year old niece knows this, she doesn't allow the car to start unless she's been strapped into her car seat and will tell you as much!

Many people tragically have the attitude that we should leave it up to Darwinism, that the stupid will cleanse the gene pool by removing themselves from it. People need educating, the parents,the children, the authorities.

Buckley up! Buckle up in the front and the back and keep yourselves and your children safe. After all, if we weren't meant to use seat belts, we wouldn't have been gifted the man who invented them!

If you're on Twitter, please follow @BuckleUpDXB and support their campaign to make everyone safer.

Food as fuel, not an over indulgence

Now, I did promise waaaaay back to blog about health and fitness, which I wasn't very good at keeping up with, but I aim to rectify that now. Before I start I must make it clear that I am no expert in this field and the information I impart is from my own experience and research that I have done.

Before I get onto exercise, I want to start with food. So many people complain about having gained a few pounds and are struggling to lose them. Weight loss is basic mathematics, calories in versus calories out. On the majority of food packaging it states that the average daily calorie in-take for women is 2,000, and 2,500 for men. However, this can vary wildly depending on your lifestyle. If you have a sedentary job and don't do much exercise, then the calories you require would be less, whereas on the flip side, if you're a sports and exercise junkie and constantly running about your calorie requirement would be higher.

I mainly think that it's the attitude many of us have towards food that needs to change. Many people just eat anything and everything and then wonder why the pounds pile on. I like to view the body as an engine, you only need to give it as much fuel as it requires to function at optimum level, no more.

I'm a firm believer in the grazing approach to eating, little and often. It keeps your metabolism ticking over, without the spikes and slumps that sporadic eating can give you. Portion control is also important. I know very well when I've eaten too much, as I instantly go into a food 'coma', feel sluggish and sleepy as all my body's energy has been diverted to digestion, rather than normal functions.

'Diet' is a term that I really don't like with regards to weight loss, as your diet is daily and necessary. I believe that everything in moderation is the key, restricting many foods only leaves to cravings that cause binge eating and all that good work is undone in an instant, there's nothing wrong with little treats here and there.

I have so much ground to cover on this subject, that this is just a basic overview of some of my thoughts and I shall continue in the next blog.

Falling foul of the forum

The majority of people these days are members of one forum or another. Forums are very useful things, they're wonderful places where people can find a wealth of information by asking questions for others to answer. There's always a range of people living the life online, hiding behind usernames in cyberspace where they act completely differently to the way they do in real life - not all, but some people do this.

Most forums tend to have their clicky crowd, the people that stick together, who flame the newbies with an initiation of fire and give them a hard time in the beginning until they've proven themselves. You can make some wonderful 'real life' friends through forums, I know I have and I'm very grateful for it.

Sadly though there can be a downside to forums, where just because you might have a differing opinion and aren't afraid to express it, people use it as an excuse to attack you. Members gang up, like a circling pack of wolves moving in for the kill, creating thread after thread just to prove their disapproval that you would dare say anything out of line! Would these people act this way in real life? Probably not! It's easy to say all sorts of things from the other side of a keyboard isn't it?!

Moderating forums is a difficult and important job, where you constantly have to decide what stays and what goes, how far do you let contentious threads and the bickering go, before you hit the 'edit/delete' button? Plus at what point to you decide to ban a poster - which in itself is a bit of a pointless exercise, given that people can just create a new username.

It's very easy to be judgmental on forum threads, you don't know the people in person, so can't really judge if something is real or just a wind up and there are some real wind up merchants out there, who'll do anything to get attention, just as some will create thread after thread on the same topic trying desperately to get a reaction or others on their side - the best course of action in this case is simply to ignore them.

One clever addition to a forum that I'm a member of is the 'friend' and 'foe' lists. If there is a poster who really winds you up the wrong way, you simply make them a 'foe' and voila! You don't have to see their drivel anymore as their posts are ignored by your profile - genius, sheer genius.

I guess the point of this short blog is simply to say that you can't live your life in cyberspace, although many people seem to. Forums are a means to an end and that's the impart information and shouldn't be taken too seriously. It is not real life after all.

The Dubai property minefield

What can I say, it all seemed like a really good idea at the time. You have some savings lying around from previous investments and look for something good to put it towards for your future. Sadly what was once many peoples dream, has turned into a living nightmare - myself included.

So, you find that ideal investment, with the nice shiny buildings, wonderful landscaping and good surrounding attractions, with reasonable payment plans - all is hunky dory, so you sign up, put your deposits down, take out your finance and wait for this wonderful development to be completed. But you wait and you wait, oh and you wait some more. A couple of years pass and it's going ok, construction is slow, better than others which are still very much a hole in the ground or never even got to that stage.

Over a couple of years circumstances change, many have lost their jobs or been forced to take a pay cut just to stay in a job, you inform your bank and developer only to find zero sympathy, no reduction in costs or extended payment plans, just a 'give us the money' attitude. What do you do then? Or when your mortgage payments have been put on-hold until handover of the property, but then you're expected to pay a huge lump sum of interest, plus maintenance fees, plus, plus, plus.

So you paw back through your contract and viola! There are clauses to help you get out of this mess, or so you thought! Because you see these SPA and add on contracts aren't even worth the paper they're written on. YOU the investor basically has no rights at all. The beyond ridiculous excuses that are given to stop you getting a money lender to implement a termination clause, which clearly states - that if a development is a year past the anticipated completion date, that you have the right to terminate - will be along the lines of 'there is no completion date in the contract'. erm really? What's that printed in black and white on page three then?

So what are your choices? Take the bank and/or the developer to arbitration or court, which costs an awful lot of money and if you lose, you not only lose that money but end up having to pay all costs as well. Try and sell? The property market, contrary to the belief of many that it's picking up, is still dead as the dodo, unless your development is nearing handover, but then the chances of getting anywhere near what you paid for it are slim. Negotiate a reduction in price and restructure the payment plans? Possible, but many are reluctant to do this. Or do a runner, which means a case would be brought against you and if you ever return to the country or get diverted for some reason, go to jail, go directly to jail, do not pass go or collect 200 Dirhams!

There are literally thousands of people in this situation, with hundreds going down the arbitration/court route, but are they winning? Are there better rights for investors? Not really. It's another of Dubai's failings, where it tries to operate in the real world, but just doesn't quite hit the mark. Putting people in prison for not being able to pay is just silly, how can they earn money to pay back what they owe, if they're behind bars? Where's the negotiation? Surely getting money back, at an albeit slower rate is better than people hopping on the nearest plane and never getting it back at all?!

But we shall have to wait and see what happens. I have to decide which route I want to take - doing a runner is not even in my head at this point, as I firmly believe that where there's a will, there's a way.

Will keep updating this one......

Wake boarding in Thailand

I have to tell you about one of my favourite places on this earth!

Tucked away in the middle of a eucalyptus forest (an experiment by the Thai government to keep the mozzies away - it works!), on the Dok Rai reservoir you'll find the Shambala resort. It's a wakeboarding camp, where you can get away from the hussle and bussle of daily life and do nothing except wakeboard with expert coaching from Deen Graves, who's one of the originators of the sport.

This little piece of heaven was set up by Deen and his wife Sarah, who are living their dream and inviting others to be a part of it - the stories they can tell you over a couple of beers are guaranteed to have you in hysterics.

Wakeboarding is something I've been doing for about three years now and I love it! To say it's become a passion of mine is a bit of an understatement.

The Shambala resort is like something out of Robinson Crusoe, with little rustic bungalows, a general gathering/eating area, with walkways out onto the water giving access to the boats. When you go there, it's like being part of an extended family, everyone is so welcoming and lovely. The food is to die for with Pah whipping up authentic Thai creations every day - I've never eaten so well. You can get the massage girls down to ease those aching muscles - trust me you'll need them after several tramp training and hard riding sessions!

The thing that gets me is the overwhelming enthusiasm for the sport. Whatever level you are, from complete beginning to a pro wanna-be who can throw big air tricks, Deen has something to teach everyone. I've come across good wakeboarders, who quite frankly are up their own backside and will say 'I don't need coaching' - everyone, no matter what level you are can learn something new. Pros in all sports have professional coaches, so why should boarding be any different?

I 'thought' I'd been getting better, until I realised that constantly riding with boys had taught me a lot of bad habits and that not necessarily having the pure strength that lads have to do things, it was going to be all about technique. So a few steps back and I was well on my way again. The thing about Deen is that he's constantly watching people and how the sport is progressing and altering the ride style and technique to cope with bigger wakes, new moves and more. At one point we realised that many people coaching now, are using techniques that he was teaching fifteen years ago - time to progress people!

A week is far too short and having been there twice now, I think my next stay is going to have to been a little bit longer. I have friends who originally went for a couple of weeks and ended up staying three months! That's how wonderful this place is! Word of mouth is also growing and I have so many friends who've now had the Deen and Sarah experience and all have had nothing but praise for this wonderful couple, their passion, hospitality, drive to help people get the most out of their experience.

So if you're into wakeoarding take a little look at http://www.wakeboardingthailand.com/ and I guarantee if you head over there you will not be disappointed.

Always look on the bright side of life!

As Monty Python would say 'Always look on the bright side of life'! In all honesty who knows why certain things happen. Is it fate? Chance? Destiny? I can't tell you, but I do know one thing and that's certain things happen in life that are meant to force you to look at what you're doing and the direction you're moving in. I'm a firm believer that everyone ha the potential to do great things, but it depends on the person and their motivation as to whether they can seize opportunities and have the guts to take a chance on something.

As the old sayig goes, 'As one door closes, another one opens'.

We shouldn't look back on life and say 'If only I did that'! For the best part of fifteen years people have been telling me that I should learn to dj properly, or write more or do this or that and I always shunted certain things aside, happy just to float along and go with the flow. But now at the age of thirty five, I am starting to get those pangs of regret at not doing certain things, so at this point I'm making my list of the things that I want to achieve in life and I'm doing it for ME, because you shouldn't necessarily do things for anyone else.

I don't believe it's ever too late to learn something new or to achieve something else, heck, most people these days don't know what it is they want to do in life until their late twenties. Also one thing I've noticed, not just in this town, but pretty much everywhere, is that there are so many distractions that stop us from getting on with things and progressing in the directions we should be. Focus - is the key word. Shutting everything else out and just knuckling down and getting on with things, because no one else is going to do it for you at the end of the day. Motivation is also a key factor. Setting achievable goals that we can reach within a set amount of time.

Now I have my goals, so my aim is to stay FOCUSED and MOTIVATED to achieve those goals within this year.

Sometimes communication isn't key!

Recently I went on a trip to a wake boarding camp in Thailand. Out in the back and beyond, the middle of nowhere. How nice it was to shut off my phone for a week, have virtually no internet use and for once being completely out of touch with the real world.

We've become so reliant on modern technologies to keep in touch, internet, social networking sites, mobiles that give you access to everything that they're constantly 'binging' every few seconds with emails, messages and notifications for any one of the hundreds of applications available to us. I find it highly amusing that when out with a group of friends for drinks or dinner, everyone sits there, mobiles all present on the table and every so often you'll look around and find several people all glued to their handsets at one point or another during the evening. Can't we just put them in our bags and enjoy the company of one another? And don't get me started on the people who sit their with two or even three phones? Really? Is that really necessary?

Do people actually talk to one another properly? Or are we just slaves to the handsets, sending emails, BBM's, Face Book or Twitter updates. I remember the days before mobile phones, where you arranged to meet friends and you had to turn up, you couldn't send a lame text message ten minutes before with some pathetic excuse as to why you can't make it.

Keeping in touch is one thing, but when does it go too far? One of the latest applications to sweep my current group of friends is Four Square. Basically you 'check-in' at locations and it broadcasts your whereabouts to your added friends, gaining you points for each check-in, new location added, or if you checked-in with your friends. So now the entire world can know your location at any given time - perfect for would be thieves keeping an eye on your house!

I think technology is great and it's progression and advancement is lightning speed these days, but I think there are sometimes when you just need to shut it all down and go back to basics, enjoying the company that you're in without the constant 'bings'.